I found W or the Memory of Childhood to be a fairly fascinating and enjoyable read. I felt that the story was interesting to follow, however, I cannot say that I find it flowed very well. Something as a reader that I find crucial is imagery and especially in a novel that focuses on memories and past events so much, I find that I am so much more engaged when I put myself in the character’s shoes. I thought this text brought these memories to life, even though in short bursts, or what could be remembered of them.
As intrigued by Perec’s voyage as I was, I found the blanks in the memories a little hard to follow at times. However, I have never read a book where the character could not remember their own past and found this to be a very interesting theme. I think that a lot of times when we hear of people not remembering big parts of life, especially childhood we almost think of them as “damaged” or there is a general understanding that they have been through something traumatic. This made me feel a sort of empathy towards Perec and feeling that he was really trying to find himself was kind of sad.
This novel and its premiss really made me think of the quote “ignorance is bliss.” As Perec’s childhood was surrounded by the second world war, it is completely understandable how traumatizing and difficult this must have been for him, especially as a child. Therefore, I think that he had these coping mechanisms in place and he had suppressed these memories and began to try and remember them less painful than they actually were.
My question is, do you think it is possible for someone to have no recollection, or very little of their childhood, especially when there are other vivid and traumatic memories?
Definitely agree that the vagueness of all his memories was a coping mechanism. And to answer your question I would say that it is possible and more probably the earlier the traumatic event was in life.
To answer your question, yes I think it is completely possible and definitely more common than people think. If you try to think back to specific time periods of your childhood bet that you wouldn’t be able to remember certain times. I think that the trauma juts really adds to this situation and his bodies stress response to protect itself ended up trying to block anything from the past.
Hey Brianna!
I loved your blog post. Perec’s traumatic childhood most definitely played a role in his damaged memory. When people live through difficult situations they sometimes block out hurtful thoughts and memories.
We see Perec resort to evidence – like pictures and documents – to reconstruct his past after what I assume was a stage of denial for him. The author must have later realized the importance of remembering past tragedies to resist the tendency of forgetting.
Hi, I really liked reading your post! To answer your question, I do believe there are people that have no recollection, or very little memory of their childhood. This may only be during a certain time frame. For example, ages 3-8 or 8-10. The time frame typically indicates what may have happened to the child during those years. It usually is a result of trauma. I think people sometimes unconsciously develop an avoidant trait to forget what may or may not have happened. It is a coping mechanism. With support and sometimes, professional help, you can remember traumatic memories but is up to the person to decide whether or not it is worth remembering.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I think this part of his memory should be a tragedy caused by war and history. His childhood may just be nothing worth remembering. His parents died because of the war, and he was also fostered by relatives. A child without a family is like duckweed, without roots. It’s like he’s afraid of things to do with his past identity, so when he gets a letter from a man that mentions his name in it, he’s nervous and doesn’t know what to do with the reply.
I agree with you that imagery is an important part of making a book flow. In this case, Perec’s memories were often false or fickle or lacking details that it was difficult to have a proper scene to imagine. I suppose this is part of what he is trying to convey and is an accurate portrayal of how little he remembers about his childhood.
Thanks for your post! I agree, I found this book fascinating even though I didn’t get that personally involved in the story myself. For sure the biggest issue I had as well was the way the story flowed though – everytime I felt like I was getting close to relating to the story or feeling connected I felt like the story would change.
Hi Clarice,
Great post! Yes I totally noticed how the narrator was just making sense of things as he went along. I think that the brain is very complicated and not easily explained and it can make up things that never existed. I felt sad for him because it must have been unimaginably terrible to lose his mother and to live in such horrible circumstances.
Hi Clarice,
Great post! Yes I totally noticed how the narrator was just making sense of things as he went along. I think that the brain is very complicated and not easily explained and it can make up things that never existed. I felt sad for him because it must have been unimaginably terrible to lose his mother and to live in such horrible circumstances.
Danielle Wong
Yes!! All I thought of was the quote “ignorance is bliss”. Sometimes we can acknowledge our surroundings and the knowing is what makes us want to slip into this ignorance to shield ourselves and protect our innocence. Even the quote “God gives His toughest trials to his bravest soldiers”. What if sometimes we don’t want to be a soldier and we just want to be? It sounds selfish depending on how you look at it but there was an enhanced sense of vulnerability in the way this novel was written and I think your post captures that perfectly.
Yes!! All I thought of was the quote “ignorance is bliss”. Sometimes we can acknowledge our surroundings and the knowing is what makes us want to slip into this ignorance to shield ourselves and protect our innocence. Even the quote “God gives His toughest trials to his bravest soldiers”. What if sometimes we don’t want to be a soldier and we just want to be? It sounds selfish depending on how you look at it but there was an enhanced sense of vulnerability in the way this novel was written and I think your post captures that 🙂
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